Small oak

fredman

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I would not worry too much. Quercus robur grows well in free draining sand, but they don't mind swamps either.
A good coarse drainage layer is sufficient for my robur oaks, which are in a 50-70% organic soil for 2 years.
What exactly do you mean by 50-70% organic soil? Reason i'm asking, is my robur has been in inorganic soil since I had it. While it grew well, it suffered terribly with powdery mildew every year. Last year I did an experiment and tried a full organic soil on most my trees...sifted compost/worm castings and pine bark. It didn't really work as it dried very fast, and didn't wet easy when dry....I used to much organics. One thing I noticed though, was the robur had almost none of the mildew. Don't know if it's a coincidence, but i'm planning to give it some organic soil again this year to see if it happens again...was thinking to add 30-40% sifted compost to the bonsai mix...?
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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What exactly do you mean by 50-70% organic soil? Reason i'm asking, is my robur has been in inorganic soil since I had it. While it grew well, it suffered terribly with powdery mildew every year. Last year I did an experiment and tried a full organic soil on most my trees...sifted compost/worm castings and pine bark. It didn't really work as it dried very fast, and didn't wet easy when dry....I used to much organics. One thing I noticed though, was the robur had almost none of the mildew. Don't know if it's a coincidence, but i'm planning to give it some organic soil again this year to see if it happens again...was thinking to add 30-40% sifted compost to the bonsai mix...?
50-70% trash potting soil and some pine bark really. The rest is inorganics.
But in their native range, all robur oaks are whitish at the end of the summer. They're mildew magnets like no other. In dry years it's a little less or none at all.
I'm not sure it's environmental or internal as a response to drought and heat, but it could very well be both.
 

barrosinc

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are you familiar with mycorrhiza? oaks tend to become established in pots when it is present.

i only cut around the edges and base when this one went into the oval and there was mycorrhiza present in the old soil, the soil wasnt great but barerooting would have set the tree back and removed all the beneficial fungi.
Great insight. I think I will be mixing the old soil with the new soil to keep the mycorrhiza. And wont be barerooting it.


I would not worry too much. Quercus robur grows well in free draining sand, but they don't mind swamps either.
A good coarse drainage layer is sufficient for my robur oaks, which are in a 50-70% organic soil for 2 years.
Good to know!
Once I planted a seedling I found in the street in pure volcanic scoria (I think its called) and it did really well.
 

MACH5

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Thanks M5!
I probably wont.
Do these mind getting barerooted?


I have two gray oaks. The small one I have was close to being bare rooted to fit it into the piece of driftwood I used as a container. It did completely fine and did not miss a beat. Instead of cutting back the roots, I folded them underneath the rootball specially because I did have to cut back a couple of larger ones.

Although yours is a different species, I still would tread carefully until you familiarize yourself with the tree. With half of a bare root seems to me that you'd be fine.
 

barrosinc

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Definitely tread carefully. I decided finally to cut the lower portion, rake the outside and loosen a bit of the bad soil. I didn't disturb the center part and put it in a wooden box in volcanic substrate.

Roots seemed healthy. And this is the final pic before going into the box
20200820_233903.jpg

Here's a pic with my working light and will get a better pic soon

20200821_000442.jpg
 

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Forsoothe!

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I don't think the flaws spoken to are flaws, I think some trees look good in the nude and others look good with leaves. With 3 times as many leaves as now, like in 2 years or so, it will have clouds that coulda/woulda/shoulda cover the parts of the trunk that its detractors note. I would change nothing and just manage the foliage into pleasant layers that would intersperse straight sections of trunk. Seeing 6 or 8 inch sections of straight now is greatly different than seeing 1" or 2" sections in-between clouds. The straight lower sections of all 3 are very realistic when proper canopies are in place.
 

Potawatomi13

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Why in pot already🤨? Skinny little trunks desired forever? Also as potted shows reverse taper at base. This can be great in time with growth all over.
 
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